AHCL
by Eternity and a Day
Summary: Some two decades after the Fall, team AHCL, formed from the children of team RWBY and a friend, partake in the Vytal Tournament. However, an old grudge resurfaces, leaving the young team to fight a much more human threat than they were trained for. Children-character focused. White Rose and Bumblebee. Rated T for 'ten times easier to ensure I meet the criteria'.
1. Chapter 1

Forenote: Where not obvious, pronunciations for team names are included after they are first mentioned in brackets and italics. E.G. Team RWBY _(ruby)_ , Team JNPR _(juniper)._

Chapter 1

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, persons who I may have unintentionally left out of the above and for whom I will be the subject of an angry blog post if I forget to mention them, welcome to the Vytal tournament! I'll be your commentator and host for this grand display of heroics and skill, Violet Veronique!"

Cheering sounded from the floating coliseum, the crowd ready for the spectacle they had come for.

"And joining me... well this is a special treat for us all. An Ace Huntress, who has earned the titles 'Flaming Fury,' 'One-Punch-Girl' and... 'Stupid Blondie who thinks she's so tough... oh no, please not the face, not the face!' I am of course talking about the one, the only, Yang Xiao Long!"

Yang chuckled as she was handed the microphone, "Thank you Violet, it's great to be here. Though you didn't have to list off my titles like that... but to the guy who gave me the last one: If you ever want to have reconstructive surgery again, just you dare touch my wife's butt again!"

Nervous laughter rose from the audience. Yang smirked, "Relax, it's a joke... next time he's ending up in the morgue."

"Erm... okay, well without any further ado, let's get down to what we're all here for. Our first match of the day: Team BLNC _(blanc)_ from Atlas, versus Team AHCL _(acre)_ from Beacon!" Violet quickly pulled back to the commentary.

"I've been looking forward to this one," Yang said.

"Your son's in team AHCL, right?"

"Yup, and my niece, and my step-daughter."

"Quite the coincidence."

Yang raised an eyebrow, "You can believe in coincidences, I'll just believe in the universal force that is Oz."

"Er... fair enough I suppose." Violet sighed a little, away from the microphone. She wanted to say she was not paid enough for this, but she had actually received a sizeable bonus, on the condition she did not cause any upset with the special guest. "So, let's begin the introductions, as our teams come onto the pitch. Team BLNC are one of our more distinguished teams. They seeded fourth in the last tournament, and are no doubt aiming to up their position this year."

The four members of Team BLNC stepped out onto the field, each taking regimented orderly steps. The leader, one Beryl Cyclos, stepped a pace in front of her team-mates. She stood tall and proud, her rapier tapping against her side as she walked

"Be ready people! This is team AHCL we're dealing with, the children of some of the finest hunters of our parent's generation."

"What might we be faced with?" he partner, Lorenz Lief, a young man in green, bearing a broadsword at his side.

"They say the have the strength of dragons at their disposal," Nele Eins put in, a girl in white, carrying a spear on her back.

"And the fury of a mountain lion" said Crystal Cove, a young lady with a rifle on her back.

"I've even heard rumours they can see your moves before you make them," Beryl said, quietly. "But we can win! No matter how great, no matter how powerful..."

"Lance shut up!"

"Just because you know I'll win."

"Would you two stop being so childish?"

"Aw~ Argent, let them have their fun."

"Don't encourage them Claudia." Argent Rose-Schnee sighed. Today was not going according to plan and it was only nine thirty. "Look, Hari, Lance, stop arguing. You can settle this in the fight."

Lance laughed, "Okay, okay Cous."

"I have a name you know," Argent replied.

"And you're also my cousin."

"Lance, stop winding Argent up," Hari said.

"Yeah, she's pretty delicate," Claudia put in, smiling at her friends. "You should treat your cousin like a gentleman would."

"There's my boy!" Yang's voice boomed over the speakers. "The handsome one in red. The blonde one. Ain't he just the most awesome, just like his father!"

"Mum! You promised not to embarrass me!"

Lance sighed, putting his right hand through his short blonde hair. He had grown up to be a tall young man, heavy on the muscle with rough but handsome looks and the vague beginnings of a dark blonde beard on his chin. He carried a spear on his back, folded in quarters and connected together by lengths of chain, and on his left arm was a heavy gauntlet with a dragon's head as the design, the teeth of the dragon closing over his hand. He wore a dark red short-sleeved shirt and black trousers, with heavy brown boots. Brown eyes were clenched shut in despair.

"There, there Lance," Hari patted her step-brother on the back. "I'm here to help you endure it."

Hari Belladonna was a tall, lean faunus girl. Her hair, once black when a child, had lightened as she grew up, turning a dark shade of brown by her teenage years, with her two cat-like ears peeking up from atop her head. She wore heavy brown gloves, which overlapped with the long sleeves of her black top, lain over a brown t-shirt, with grey trousers completing her outfit alongside a pair of hefty boots. A rifle hung on her back, with a few cartridges of dust ammunition attached to the strap which carried the gun.

Golden eyes glanced up to the commentators, as a thin little smile adorned her thin little face. "Though, I can't promise too much."

"Oh come on, she's only doing it because she loves you so much," Claudia said with a giggle.

Claudia Krios, the only one of the team not related to the rest, was a slight girl. Neither tall nor short, she was clothed in a grey blouse and black combat trousers. Her long chestnut hair was held in a high ponytail by a dark purple ribbon, and on her head sat a gold band, with a single amethyst encrusted in the front. On her back, attached to her belt, were two gleaming knives.

"If you're all done messing around, I believe we have a battle to win," Argent said, sighing deeply.

The leader of Team AHCL was short. There was no other way to put it. Born to two women who were both vertically challenged, it was no surprise that she stood a few inches shorter than her team-mates. She was dressed in a white fencing tabard with pale pink lining, emblazoned with her Mothers's silver Schnee snowflake on the left shoulder and her Mum's red Rose emblem on her right. Beneath, she wore white trousers and heeled boots. Her silver eyes swept over the opposition, her silver hair, tied in a fish-tail braid her Mum had taught her many years before, coming to rest in the square of her back.

By her side was a sword in a large, mechanical sheath. The sheath was clearly far larger than the one-handed blade, with several parts which looked as though they could move.

"Contestants, get ready, the match is about to begin!" Violet's voice brought the attention of all the participants to her. The two teams lined up, as the random generator whirred, readying for the arena set-up.

"Miss Schnee, it's an honour to face you," Beryl bowed to Argent.

"Then honour me by using my name," Argent replied, stormy silver eyes glaring at the girl down her nose. "It begins with an 'R,' is that enough of a clue?"

"And here I was trying to be friendly..." Beryl drew her rapier. "But be as you will."

Argent merely gave her a 'humph' as she drew her sword, a slightly wide, double-edged, curved sabre.

"Wow, she's getting to you Argent," Lance chuckled as his spear snapped into form.

"Just be ready Lance," Argent replied curtly.

Lance laughed as Hari and Claudia readied their weapons. The randomisers fixed on the four quarters of the arena: a wood, a ruined building, a beach with water and a small hill.

"Fight!" Violet shouted over the speakers.

"Now Lance!" Argent shouted.

"Let's set this off with a bang!" Lance bellowed, his brown eyes flickering red, and the temperature in the arena rising suddenly.

"What's he doing?" Violet asked, glancing at Yang.

"Well, you see, aside from his dashing good looks, immense strength and bountiful charisma, Lance inherited one other thing from me."

"Which is?"

"He's really..." Yang put a finger to her lips seductively, "...hot."

"Doesn't that come under 'dashing good looks?'"

Yang smirked as flames burst into the air of the arena. "Not exactly."

Fire swirled around Lance's form, rushing over his figure, rising and spreading out, forming two flaming wings from his back. His eyes now a deep red, and flames flickering off his form, he smirked at his opponents. "You ever fought a dragon?"

Team BLNC glanced nervously between each other.

"I didn't think so," Lance continued, before leaping into the air, his flaming wings keeping him aloft. "Now is the moment where you're allowed to shit yourselves."

He swooped down towards the opposing team, who dispersed swiftly, Crystal opening fire on the boy, whose flaming wings intercepted the shots. As he landed, he swung his spear, a ball of flame soaring towards Lorenz, who ducked aside and rushed at Lance with his broadsword. Blade and spear met, and red eyes glared down at Lorenz.

Crystal, realising her shots would only hinder her team-mate, turned her rifle towards Hari. Hari pulled out her own gun, both girls opening fire, with Hari taking cover in the rocks of the hilly area, while Crystal hid behind a tree.

Beryl, seeing the gunfight, shouted to crystal "Get her in melee!"

Crystal nodded, rushing out from her hiding place. To Hari, her target's position seemed to shift suddenly and repeatedly, then there were two of her, then four, then eight.

"Crystal's showing off her semblance I see, or do I?" Violet commentated, "Her ability to bend light to her will is making it hard to tell."

Hari flicked a switch on her gun, making it reconfigure slightly, the barrel widening and the magazine shifting round, loading the entirety of the magazine into the gun at once.

Hari stood up, leaving cover, and squeezed the trigger, her shotgun blasting the eight versions of Crystal converging on her with flames.

Sweeping through the flames and ash, a glaive in her hand carving through the smoke, Crystal rushed at Hari, swinging at the faunus girl. Suddenly, her target was not there, and the glaive swung through thin air. A moment later, Crystal felt a blow to her back of her head and staggered forwards. Behind her, Hari spun around and kicked her opponent square in the back, sending Crystal tumbling.

"That's my girl! You show 'em Hari!" Yang called out over the speakers.

"What did she do?" Violet stared at the faunus girl who, with her gun safely stowed on her back, now took a martial stance, hands and feet ready to strike.

"Well, Hari's a mountain lion faunus. Cougars are renowned for their agility and ability to move through mountains as though they were teleporting. Of course, most of them aren't _literally_ teleporting."

Hari watched her opponent carefully, waiting for the right moment, then, as Crystal swung again, Hari blinked out of existence, materialising behind Crystal and planting two fingers on a pressure-point in the girl's neck, before sweeping the stunned girl's legs out from under her.

"Crystal!" Nele shouted, before catching a glance of glinting metal, ducking aside moments before Claudia's knife cut her.

"Pay attention will you? You're fighting me!" Claudia swung with her other knife, which Nele deflected with her spear. "Hm..." Claudia's eye flicked to her knives briefly, "I choose this future!"

She lunged with her right hand, snaking her arm around the spear that rose to meet her, driving the knife into Nele's shoulder. The girl's aura kept her safe, but she was pushed back. "How...?"

Claudia smirked and tossed her weapons into the air, watching them spin for a moment, before leaping up and grabbing them, each back-handed. "And now, I choose this one!"

Claudia spun in the air as she came down towards Nele, slamming one knife into the haft of the spear, then swinging the other down. She flung herself over Nele, flipping and landing on her feet. Nele staggered from the blow and turned herself to face Claudia. "What the Hell? How can you do that?"

Claudia smiled, then levelled her knife at Nele, eyes again flicking down to the shining steel in her hands, "I see you... there!" Once again, she lunged forward.

Beryl stared around her team, watching the furious fights unfolding. They had been taken by surprise and lost any kind of innate advantage from the start. She looked for the last foe, spotting Argent standing calmly where she had been the entire match, watching the others battle it out.

Beryl glared, then rushed at Argent, who stayed standing stock still. 'Why's she doing that? Could it be I'm running into a trap?' Beryl glanced around as she ran, looking for the trap. She could not see anything, what was it?

Her sword was suddenly knocked to one side, bringing her attention back to Argent, who had swiftly lunged forward, swiping with her sabre. "The trap was that there was no trap," she said with a smile, slashing again at Beryl, who ducked back, bringing her sword forward once more to defend. She was expecting a straight sword-fight, so when Argent stepped back and raised her off-hand, Beryl was immediately on-guard.

Argent smiled a haughty smile, "And again, you fall for it."

Beryl gasped, 'What does she mean? There's no trap, but...'

Suddenly, a glyph appeared beneath Beryl's feet, glowing purple as Argent raised her sword, a small rotating chamber, running down the cross-guard, set to the same purple colour. "Seriously, learn to read a bluff."

Lightning rose from the glyph, engulfing the place Beryl had been just a moment before. Beryl rushed in again, not wanting to give Argent even more control of the duel's tempo. As she neared, she saw Argent sheath her sword. 'What now?'

A flick of a button, and the mechanical sheath started whirring, unfolding and revealing its true form. Argent grasped the long handle which extended up to where the blade of her sword now formed the blade of a scythe. Taking a stance, Argent whispered "It's over."

A golden glow surrounded Argent, as the small chamber in her scythe spun to golden time dust. Beryl could barely see the blur of silver which cleaved her down. It took three strikes, all landing within a second, for Beryl to tumble over. Mid-fall, as she tumbled upside-down, she saw Argent's scythe reconfigure once more.

Argent now held a long-barrelled rifle. She took aim, grasping the rifle tightly in both hand as the dust canister spun once more, landing on dark red force dust. Two glyphs, the same dark red colour as the dust, appeared along the barrel of the gun, a few red petals blowing in the wind around them as the glyphs appeared. A single shot rang out, catapulted by the force dust straight into the falling Beryl, who was flung at high speed into the nearby ruin. Her aura dropped to red on the screens all around the arena, and a buzzer sounded.

"And Beryl Cyclos is out!"

Beryl pulled herself up a little, staring up at the girl who had defeated her. "I... lost…?"

Argent glared down at her, "My name is Argent _Rose_ -Schnee. You had better remember that in future." Argent's weapon reconfigured into a sheath and she drew the sword before turning to the rest of the fight. "Guys! Firestorm!"

The other three team members grinned. Hari was the first to move, teleporting away from Crystal, making the girl give chase. Hari teleported swiftly, always watching her opponent, always blinking away just at the last moment.

Claudia flipped back, over and over, coming to rest a little way from Nele. Spinning one knife through the air as she landed, her eyes going to the blade for the merest moment, she chuckled, "Doesn't matter which future I choose... nice."

Nele saw a chance and rushed at Claudia, who ducked as the spear was about to reach her, slamming her knives together around the head of the spear, driving the point down into the ground. At the same time, she flipped up, kicking into Nele's back and sending her flying forwards.

Lance and Lorenz were trading blows in the middle of the arena, with sparks flying from the meeting of metal as much as from the blazing fire. Lance knocked aside a blow with his dragon gauntlet, then swung a low blow with his spear, making Lorenz side-step straight to where Nele was stumbling. He caught his team-mate and they both glared at Lance, who flapped his wings and flew backwards.

Crystal ran over to her team, Hari having teleported away. "What now?"

"Beryl's down... we have to..." Lorenz began.

"You have to lose, that's all," Lance confidently declared from above.

Lance was hovering above, his spear hung low. His left hand was raised, and the mouth of the dragon gauntlet had opened. From the bestial mouth was pointing the head of a cannon. The glow of dust shimmered within the barrel.

"Okay, quick thing, I would really advise shitting yourselves about now," Lance grinned as he unleashed the blast.

Energy burst from the barrel of the cannon, a single ball of light bursting upon the ground just in front of the three targets. A blinding flash filled the arena, Lance using his flaming wings to shield his gaze. As he unfurled the wings to view his handiwork, a buzzer sounded and a bell rang.

"All remaining members of team BLNC have been eliminated. Team AHCL wins!"

Cheers from the Valite members of the audience sounded loudly as Lance allowed his wings to carry him slowly to the ground and his team members joined him as the flames flickered away. Lance blinked and his eyes had returned to their normal brown, all trace of the crimson fire having vanished.

"Nice shot!" Claudia said cheerfully, sheathing her knives as she approached.

Hari materialised behind Lance, "Good to see you doing you job bro."

Lance chuckled and grabbed his step-sister in a one-armed hug, "Don't you just know it."

"Ow! Lance, your gauntlet's still hot!"

"Oh, sorry..."

Argent sighed as she approached, but smiled nonetheless, "Okay, okay, that's enough. Let's get going, or do you guys want to miss the whole festival?"

"Ah… yeah… I promised Eirwen I'd meet her. No time to waste!" Lance released his sister and started hurrying in the direction of the exit. "Come on ladies!"

"Aw~ ain't it the cutest how he acts about his girlfriend?" Hari giggled as the girls followed their team-mate.

"You never let up on him, do you?" Argent asked.

"Neither do you."

"I make sure he and certain other relatives of mine do as they should," Argent replied, pointedly glaring at Hari.

"You're like, my step-cousin! You aren't really responsible for me, right?"

"I still have to make sure you behave, or Aunt Blake would be terribly upset. Speaking of whom..." Argent looked up in the stands, where a familiar black-haired faunus and three of her four children, a mid-teenage boy and two much younger girls, were sitting, waving at the girls.

Hari smiled as she noticed, waving back "Hey Mama! Did you see all that?" Blake smiled in response and gave a thumbs-up.

As her cousin was occupied, Argent felt a buzz of her scroll. Pulling it out, she saw it was a message from 'Mother'.

" _Hi Argent_

 _I saw the fight. You did an excellent job out there._

 _Ruby and I will be a little later than we thought, but should be with you by lunchtime tomorrow. If you have your next match before we see you, good luck for that. See you tomorrow._

 _Love_

 _Mother_

 _P.S. Ruby gives her love too."_

Argent smiled as she and her friends stepped out of the arena and she finished reading the message. She heard the words as though her mother were saying them in the gentle voice only she and her mum ever got to hear. The most powerful woman in Remnant always worked extra hard to be the best mother in Remnant too, and Argent appreciated it so very much.

Claudia smiled at her friend's expression, allowing Argent the undisturbed moment. Argent really was a mother's girl. It was one of the cutest parts of the silver-haired girl.

The girls followed an excited Lance out to an airship to take them from the flying area down to the festival below.

* * *

"So AHCL won then?"

" _Yes, just as expected."_

"Just as well," a black-haired girl leaned back in her chair. It was a dusky, dusty room, with little in the way of decoration. Just a desk a chair and a girl, in her late teens, leaning back with a scroll in hand.

" _What would you have done if they didn't?"_

"Eh, I'd have worked something out." The woman idly scratched the back of her head, "It might not have been as good, but… practicality triumphs."

" _Whatever you say Onyx."_

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

" _Nothing, nothing. So what do you want me to do?"_

"Just keep an eye out for what's going on. Anything you can find out, especially about my dear family, will be useful."

" _Sure, I'll keep watch. Though, are you really sure you want to do it here? I mean, surrounded by about half of the world's huntsmen?"_

"It won't be a problem." Onyx casually twisted her hair around her finger as she spoke. "Anything else?"

" _No."_

"Very well, I'll see you in a few days then. Goodbye George."

" _See you round."_

The call cut and Onyx lazily tapped on her scroll, opening up footage of the match AHCL had just fought. She smiled as she watched Lance take flight and fire upon team BLNC.

"This is going to be entertaining..." she mused.

* * *

A/N: So how many of you thought you'd never see me publish anything again? Just a reminder: Eternity never ends.

So after a very long time, I'm back. Most of this has actually been written since before I finished Falling Dusk, but due to me never having enough time to do anything much (or feeling too exhausted when I do have time), I put this on hold. But now I'm back with a vengeance.

Funny story actually, the reason I decided to finally finish this chapter and start writing again was a single review I got on Pink Like Posies a few days ago. It was anonymous and reads as follows:

 _"Ruby being gay is dumb and unoriginal_

 _You didn't spend anytime on her wearing the dress_  
 _And you suck"_

I don't know what they're talking about with the dress (I mean, I sort of do, but it makes no real sense). 'Ruby being gay' is kinda a prerequisite for White Rose (yeah, sure she could be bi or something, I know...), which the story is marked as. Neither of those bothered me at all, that's someone being stupid. But there's one thing that irritated me. 'You suck'. My friends would all tell you that the best way of making me put effort into something is to tell me I'm bad at it when I disagree with you. So thank you anonymous person, you have inspired me to actually get my ass in gear and prove you wrong.

Nothing make me happier than proving arseholes wrong. Don't get me wrong, criticise away, I'm happy for you to do it, I want you to do it, but if you're rude or stupid about it, well... be prepared for some suitably amusing vengeance.

That said, I'm popular enough to attract hate! This is, like, totally amazing!

For those wondering, while this story is set in the same continuity as Falling Dusk, there is absolutely no need to read FD first. I will keep all references to it minimal, and re-explain anything necessary.

So, important things: I'm going to be updating this on a two-week cycle... probably. We'll see how it goes. If I finish the next chapter in a week, well then you guys have a chapter a week sooner. But yeah, this A/N is long enough already, so I'll discuss other things some other time.

'Til Eternity Ends

E.D.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Argent, Hari and Claudia stepped into the festival grounds and looked around at the colours and excitement surrounding them.

"Woah... this is something else," Hari said.

"It's pretty cool, yeah. We'll have to see if it matches up to the last one," Claudia replied.

"Yeah, yeah, you two both got to go to the last one, Atlas girls," Hari sighed.

"I only went because my brothers were both competing," Claudia responded.

"And Argent?"

"She only went because her boyfriend was competing."

"He is _not_ my boyfriend," Argent replied, indignantly.

"Which 'he' would that be?" Claudia asked.

Argent rolled her eyes, "The one you always tease me about."

"Speak of the Devil..." Hari muttered.

"What?" Argent looked around to spot a pair of boys walking towards them, one of them waving at the girls.

The one who waved was well-known to the group. He was Claudia's older brother, Secundus Krios. The young man was fairly tall and lean, with short brown hair and deep brown eyes. Both his hair and complexion were darker than his sister's, though it was still easy to tell they were related, from features such as their sharp noses and high cheek-bones. He was dressed in his combat gear: a grey t-shirt with long sleeves over black trousers.

The man with him, his partner at Beacon, was one Aaron Berg, a large, stocky young man, with the beginnings of a beard on his face, little patches of blonde here and there. His fair hair was closely cut and blue eyes had a mirthful look perpetually dancing in them.

As the two men walked up, Claudia stepped up to her brother, "Heya Sec."

"Hello Sister. nicely done in your match earlier."

"Oh, you were watching? I don't think I was that impressive."

"You did well... well I suppose you shouldn't keep playing with your opponents... and you made some of those jumps a little late... and your landings could use..."

"Sec!" Claudia glared at her brother, who grinned.

"What? You were just saying how you weren't that impressive," he responded with a little too much glee.

Claudia fumed gently, but swallowed her annoyance, "Well it's not like you've won any matches yet."

"Well aside from last time. I believe we placed... oh Aaron, remind me, where did we come in the last tournament, was it second?"

"First," Aaron said quietly.

"Oh yeah, first place for team SAND, so, we may have won a few things already." Secundus chuckled at his sister's incredible annoyance. But then a small smile overcame his face and he place a hand on her head, tousling her head a little, "But really Sis, you were pretty damn good out there. Keep it up, you're in the next round too, right?"

"Y-yeah."

"Then do your best and you'll be fine. Heck, do your worst and you'll probably be fine too." Secundus removed his hand and looked over to the other two girls. "That really was a good fight to watch ladies."

"Thank you, though Lance was the one who played the main part," Argent replied with a smile.

"He fired his cannon at three people you had all managed to position, and you, Argent, managed to take out Beryl. She was a tough one for me last year. Not the toughest to be fair, that would be brother dearest, but you handled her with such ease, I fully expect to see you go a long way if you can repeat that."

Argent's smile sharpened just a little from the compliments, "She was cocky and let me get to her. I doubt many others will make that mistake."

"Not letting yourself make that mistake? That's good." Secundus turned to Hari, "Miss Belladonna, I'd like to give you compliments for your fighting, but the camera had a lot of trouble staying on you..."

Hari grinned, "That was the plan."

"So Secundus, what time is your team's fight today?"

"We're scheduled last, five thirty. They wanted to maximise the hype, having last tournament's winners at the end." Secundus laughed, "Honestly, I predict a boring fight, but that's just me."

"Boring?" Argent raised an eyebrow.

"We got placed against some first-year Atlas team. We encountered them yesterday. What was our conclusion again Aaron?"

"Overconfident, immature and arrogant children of the nobility."

"Ah, yes, so the sort of people who think they're of your calibre, Argent, but what ain't."

Argent cringed slightly at the bad grammar addressed to her, even seeing the joke. "I see... well I won't need to wish you good luck then."

"You don't need to. It would still be appreciated."

"So Sec, have you seen Mum and Dad yet?" Claudia asked, evidently having got over her embarrassment.

"Oh yes, they're wandering around somewhere."

"I think I'll go and try to find them, in a bit guys." Claudia slipped into the crowd before anyone else could say anything.

"Oh... er Mum just messaged me, she and the girls are coming to look around the festival, I'm gonna go meet them," Hari said, receiving nods of farewell from the others.

"Everyone is so desperate to leave it seems," Secundus said with a wry smirk.

"Erm, actually my family just messaged me too..." Aaron said.

Argent and Secundus glanced at each other. "Really, or is it my sister telling you to make something up?" Secundus asked.

Aaron hesitated, mouth opening to answer, but Argent raised a hand, "Don't answer that, just... see you later."

Aaron nodded and disappeared into the crowd. Secundus turned to Argent with a warm smile, "I didn't think you'd actually want to spend the festival alone with me."

"Really?"

"Well I kinda hoped you would."

Argent looked at her feet, "Well, I'll be doing a kindness to you then." She took a step forward, to stand by the young man's side. "Shall we?"

The pair began their tour of the festival, failing to spot a girl quietly hiding around a corner, behind a stall. Claudia watched her team leader and her brother, a small frown on her face. Pulling out a mirror, she continued to watch them, her eyes locking tightly on their reflections.

She looked beyond what others could see, to see an older pair, Argent dressed in a long white dress, a beautiful bouquet in hand, stood next to a suited Secundus, the two walking arm-in-arm.

Claudia lowered the mirror, melancholy overcoming her face. "This is the future I choose," she muttered to herself.

Glancing once more into the mirror, still catching the pair, her eyes widened as she saw a brief flash of something else: Argent, kneeling, weeping, in front of Secundus' lain form.

As soon as she saw it, the pair were blocked by a crowd of people and the vision vanished. Claudia shook herself, "That is something I do not choose." She placed the mirror in a pocket and wandered away, looking for her parents.

* * *

"La la~ ah da~... ah la da da... da da da... la da da... da da da~." Onyx sung to herself as she tied up her hair, making two low-hanging tails of black, tied with grey bands so that they fell down her back. She was dressed in white shirt, black jacket and black combat skirt. A large box with a strap for carrying it lay against the wall near her, alongside a travel-bag.

She checked her hair in a large mirror in front of her, blue eyes smiling when she saw it was correct. Grabbing her bag and the box, she looked herself over, nodded when she was sure she had everything she needed and left the room, heading out of the flat she lived in and down the stairs, pulling on a pair of black gloves as she stepped out into the cold air of Atlas.

She saw a car waiting outside and stepped over to it. The window wound down and the driver addressed her, "Miss Asche?"

"That would be me," Onyx replied.

The back door of the car opened and Onyx got in. The driver turned to her as the door automatically closed, "The Airport, correct?"

"Yes, thank you," Onyx looked out the window as the white city moved around them. A small smile sat on her face as they drove through the city.

It was about a quarter hour later that they arrived at the airport. The driver pulled into a drop-off bay and turned to Onyx, "That'll be 24 lien 60 please."

Onyx reached into a pocket and pulled out a wallet, taking two notes from it, she reached out to where the driver held out a hand for the money. As she moved the money to his hand, she lightly tapped his palm with her index finger. A black mark appeared where she touched and the driver shied away, "What the crap?"

Onyx smiled, "You have a nice aura you know..." she slowly replaced the money in her wallet, then clicked her gloved fingers. The driver shook for a moment, and the black mark glowed. Then the driver was still, and her slumped over in his seat.

Onyx stepped out of the car and opened the driver's door, checking first that nobody was watching. She reached over to the panel which the driver had used to tell him which jobs to do and opened up the connection bank, attaching a small device. The screen flashed briefly, a black queen chess piece appearing on screen, a small loading bar filling swiftly, then it turned back to its normal screen, with a few key modifications. Where it had previously identified the job as being for a Miss Onyx Asche, it now read 'Argent Rose-Schnee'.

Smirking, Onyx removed the device and closed the driver's door. Quickly, she walked away and into the airport, whistling as she dragged her bag along. She smiled up at a security camera, then walked past it, tapping something on her scroll as she walked away. The camera light blinked as it turned back on, surprising the security guards watching, who had thought it had broken half an hour earlier.

* * *

"And now, a fight I'm sure you've all been waiting for. Team STLL _(steel)_ , a newcomer team, will face off against our champions from two years ago, Team SAND!"

As Violet spoke, the arena was filled with cheers as the two teams stepped out into the arena. From up in the stands, Claudia and Argent cheered as Team SAND stepped out.

"Go get 'em bro!" Claudia excitedly shouted.

Argent chuckled, "Oh come on Claudia, surely you've already seen how this fight turns out."

Claudia smirked, pulling out her mirror and examining the fighters with it. "Yeah, yeah, just what we expect, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't cheer him."

Argent smiled, then turned back to the arena, seeing Secundus looking straight at the pair of them, hand raised in a wave. Just a tiny tinge red, Argent waved back.

"Seriously Argent, when are you two going to start going out?" Claudia received a glare for her words and little else. She leaned back in her chair and fixed her eyes of the fight about to begin. All the fighters had drawn their weapons, Secundus bearing a longsword in one hand, while his left hand was ready to plunge into a pouch full of dust crystals.

As the bell rang to start the match, two figures stepped up in front of Argent and Claudia.

"Eh? Argent blinked up at the two men, "Can I help you?"

"Miss Rose-Schnee?" one of them asked.

"Y-yes."

The man who had spoken pulled out a leather wallet and opened it up, showing a police badge, "Could you please come with us? We have some questions for you."

* * *

A/N: I am very glad I decided to do this on a two-week cycle. Winter illness decided to rear its ugly head last weekend, so yeah, that was fun.

This chapter is quite short, I must say, but eh, it's a convenient break point.

Also, I am surprised by quite how little response there has been to this story. Maybe I was spoilt by the previous very immediate and very positive reactions to my previous stories. I'm not surprised this has been less immediately popular: children stories generally are, but eh, we shall see how it goes.

So anyway, this is all for now. See you next time.

'Til Eternity Ends

E.D.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"So what are you accusing me of?" Argent asked, sitting cross-legged in the interrogation room's chair. She was leaning back in the chair, looking bored, rather than worried.

The policeman sighed, "Rather cocky aren't you Miss?"

Argent raised an eyebrow, "Well I haven't done anything remotely wrong, and I'm the daughter of the richest person on the planet. You must have some quite impressive reason for bringing me in."

The officer sighed, "This afternoon at just after one thirty, a Mr Patrick Green, an Atlas taxi-driver, was found unconscious in his taxi at Atlas airport. He had accepted a job under your name, from your address. The man is now in a comatose state."

Argent chuckled, "So what, I fought my bout this morning, flew to Atlas, walked home, then had a taxi pick me up and did a number on the driver? Then I flew back to Vale, went to watch my friend's fight, and somehow made the round trip in the space of... what, eight hours?"

She laughed, "I mean, if I could teleport, maybe I could have done it, but even Hari can only go a few dozen yards."

The officer looked irritated, "Well _Miss,_ as we said, we wanted to ask you questions, not arrest you."

"Okay then: no I don't know who did it, you can check my scroll records with the communications tower that I haven't made a call to any Atlas taxi companies ever, Mum always insisted on driving me places, and I don't know how to put someone into a coma, except through a rather... blunt method, which, given I would have no reason not to finish the job if I were in such a brutal mood, I would not have employed like that. Also, I've never heard of this Mr... Green was it? So even if I could somehow ensure it was him, I have absolutely no motive."

She examined her fingernails, "Does that cover everything?"

The policeman sighed once again, exasperated but not wanting to cause unnecessary trouble with a Schnee. "Do you know of anyone who might want to set you up?"

"Oh, hundreds, there are plenty of people who hate me and my family for all sorts of reasons: envy, historic dislike for my grandfather's... unfortunate strategies, or resentment for my mother's more reasonable outlook reducing their incomes. Take your pick."

"Okay... fine..." the officer stood and opened the door, "You can go..."

Argent smiled as she stood up and stepped past the man, "Glad to be of service."

Striding down the corridor to reach the entrance, she tutted to herself. "Have to make my own way back... what a pain." She stepped into the front reception area, spotting a familiar young man stood against a wall, who looked up as she approached.

"Secundus, you haven't been brought in as well have you?"

"I came to pick you up. I'm guessing you don't have an easy way back to school."

"I'm sure I could have _persuaded_ one of these people to give me a lift," Argent replied, receiving a chuckle from her friend. "But as you so kindly came all the way down here, I would appreciate your assistance."

Secundus nodded and the pair stepped out of the station. Secundus walked over to a black motorbike chained up nearby, passing a helmet to Argent. "So what was it all about in the end?"

"Someone badly framing me for putting a guy in a coma."

Secundus paused unlocking his bike, "That's a bit strange. Don't people normally go after your mother?"

"Eh, I've had a few incidents. Remember that guy who decided it would be a great idea to attack me in broad daylight in the middle of Vale?"

"Oh him, yeah, he regretted that pretty quickly as I recall." Secundus laughed, "Though maybe he enjoyed his flight. The fall probably less so." He put away the bike lock and pulled his own helmet on, throwing a leg over the bike and gripping the handles.

Argent carefully climbed onto the back of the bike's seat, glad she was wearing trousers, placing her feet on the back footholds. She wrapped her arms around Secundus, hands barely touching. "Ready when you are." Secundus started the motor and the pair sped off through the dimming town.

Traffic was light and soon they were out of town, speeding along one of the few paths up the cliff-side to Beacon. The twisting paths were daunting to those who had never ridden them before, but to the pair they were well-trodden ground, flying round corners that most would crawl around, ascending towards the lights of the school.

Through the visor of her helmet, Argent looked out at Vale, lying out below her lit up by dust-powered lights, and, a little way beyond, the sea, stretching out towards the horizon. Now the pair were riding along the cliff-top with no more twists or turns to navigate. They flew along swiftly, Argent feeling the momentum but none of the wind, all of it being blocked by Secundus's body.

Not sure why, she tightened her grip around Secundus's mid-section. She felt him chuckle a little, though the tiny sound was lost to the wind and motor.

Eventually, she heard the sound of the engine quiet a little and felt herself slowing down. Secundus slowed the bike and turned in through the school gates, coming to a stop in the front courtyard. Argent released her grip and dismounted, removing her helmet and putting it away on the back of the bike.

"I'll put her away then you wanna go get something from the cafeteria?"

"Yes, I suppose I am quite hungry."

Secundus nodded then drove the bike away in the direction of the student garage. Argent began making her way to the cafeteria, pulling out her scroll from a pocket as she did so. Seeing a string of messages from her team-mates and some from her parents, she quickly answered them with a simple 'I'm back, everything is fine', hoping that would suffice, at least until she had got some food in her. She would have to explain everything in detail later, but an extra half hour could not possibly hurt.

* * *

Argent's sword clashed with another, the sound of metal ringing out over the battlefield. He opponent, with sword and pistol, took the chance to use the latter, taking a point blank shot at Argent, who blocked the attack with a glyph, then pushed forward with her blade, only to sidestep, sending her opponent flying.

This second match of the tournament for her was going fairly straightforwardly. While Argent defeated this swordsman busy, her partner would keep the other fighter busy. Claudia always seemed happy to be the irritating distraction in the plan.

"Oh come on, stop being so predictable!" Claudia called out as her opponent's hammer struck nothing but the arena floor once again. 'Irritable distraction' was most certainly the correct way of putting it, Argent mused briefly, before returning her full attention to dispatching the swordsman.

Sheathing her blade, she transfigured the weapon into its scythe form, attacking from reach now, the golden glow of time dust surrounding her as she swiftly landed blow after blow, forcing her opponent back, barely deflecting each strike, until finally he could no longer keep up. A strike got through, throwing the boy off for long enough for Argent to set the dust in her weapon to fire and carve a blazing arc down at the boy. His knees buckled and his weapons dropped from his hands.

At the sound of a buzzer, Argent allowed the flames around her scythe to halt, a few blazing petals burning up in the last embers. She turned from her defeated foe to the other opponent, still wildly swinging at Claudia, who was flipping and rolling around the arena, making the occasional jab at the girl, pausing only to look at the reflections in her daggers.

"I choose this fut...agh!" Claudia cried in pain as a hammer blow landed.

"Stop being so predictable," the man with the hammer chided, swinging again. Argent saw the course of the hammer change at the last moment, seemingly predicting Claudia's dodge.

A moment later, Argent had interposed herself between the hammer and Claudia, her scythe blocking the hammer-head. "If you predict everything, he just needs to take that into account. I always tell you not to be so showy," she scolded her partner.

"S-sorry..." Claudia rolled away, raising her knives once more.

Argent grinned, "Just don't do it again." She then spun her scythe, separating the interlocked weapons, and took a step backward, before slashing with the scythe again, her swift movements giving her a chance to land a few blows, though nothing critical. Her new opponent swung his hammer, a surprisingly quick blow catching Argent in spite of her step back. Feeling the cracking of her aura, Argent summoned a glyph beneath the man's feet, lightning shooting from the space he had occupied mere milliseconds before.

Another swing of the hammer which Argent raised her scythe to meet. The man pressed down hard, forcing Argent back just a little bit.

"Give it up Schnee!"

Anger flashing in Argent's eyes. A burst of white petals heralded a glyph beneath her feet, locking her in place. She grinned, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Eh?"

"Me!"

Claudia leaped into action, spotting another burst of petals as her foot hit a glyph. Jumping high over Argent and the man, she allowed gravity to carry her down, with one last glance at her knives. "This is the future I choose."

Spinning in the air, her knives each landed two cuts on the man. As she landed, she turned again, cutting twice more. Finally, she flicked the knives to a back-hand hold and carved an x-shape into the man's aura, shattering it and making him collapse as a bell rang.

Argent pushed the hammer aside, smirking at Claudia, "Not bad."

"Just doing my job," Claudia smiled, before turning to the crowd and making a theatrical bow.

Argent merely put away her weapon, the hefty sheath attaching to her belt. She then made her way to the exit, Claudia following close behind, with a few more waves and bows to the crowd.

As the pair walked over to the arena docks, Argent looked around, "Where are Lance and Hari? They should be here by now."

"They got a little caught up," a voice said from nearby.

Argent froze at the sound of the voice, one she knew very well. She turned around to see two women standing near the exit from the spectator's area of the colosseum, one in white, the other red.

"Mother! Mum!" Argent rushed over to the women, soon being wrapped in a hug by her parents.

"Hello Argent," Weiss said, a gentle sound coming from her lips, which most of those who met her would swear could not come from her mouth. "That was a good job out there."

Releasing the hug, Argent took a small step back. "I can't believe you made it in time."

"A certain someone ran us over to the airship just in time," Weiss said, giving her wife a sly smile.

"Mama Rose, reporting for mothering duty!" Ruby gave a mock salute. "I mean, I couldn't let us miss your fight Argent."

Argent laughed, "Thanks Mum."

Ruby gripped her daughter in a one-armed hug, "Aw~ don't worry about it, it's just what mums do."

Weiss laughed a little at her wife, before glancing over to Argent's partner, "Claudia, it's nice to see you again. I trust you are keeping well."

"Yes, thank you." As Claudia stepped into the conversation, Weiss became just a little more formal. Claudia took no offence: there were some things which were only for family.

A brief amount of chatter about Claudia's family ensued, before Claudia excused herself to go and find the rest of team AHCL. Once she was gone, Weiss turned to her daughter, a slightly stern look in her eyes, not dissimilar to the looks she gave a much younger Argent and Ruby when the pair had raided the cookie tin and were too full to eat dinner.

"Now, Argent, I want you to explain exactly what happened with you and the police."

Argent took a deep breath. "Well, yesterday when Secundus's fight had just started..."

* * *

A/N: Mama Weiss, both sweet and terrifying.

So yeah, barely made this deadline! Though it might be better this way. It seems that if I post too early in the day on Sunday, my stuff gets buried under all the other releases. There's a reason I used to release on Wednesdays, though that is sadly a bit impossible with this whole work thing... alas.

Anyway, we gradually progress towards things actually happening! Stay tuned for interesting things to happen, hurrah!

'Til Eternity Ends

E.D.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"...and then Secundus gave me a lift back to Beacon." Argent finished her story, reaching for the cookie that sat barely-touched on the plate in front of her. She and her parents had found a small café by the arena's docks, one of a number of temporarily set-up places for those who had come to watch the tournament to take a break.

Weiss sipped her coffee, nodding slowly. Ruby was biting the inside of her lip, looking perplexed. Argent nibbled on the chocolate cookie, awaiting her mother's response. Ruby's eyes, fixed on her wife, showed she was just as nervous as her daughter.

Weiss placed down her cup and sighed, "You should probably have been nicer to the policeman. After all, he was just doing his job."

Argent pouted, "If he had done it properly, he'd have been able to work out everything I told him anyway."

"Maybe, but it was probably faster to ask you." Weiss sighed, "I understand how you feel, but you should think about how he felt." Weiss grinned, "I mean, he must have been terrified that he'd be in trouble with me if anything untoward happened."

Ruby laughed a little and Argent relaxed, seeing her mother was not angry, at least not at her. "So, Mother, do you have any idea who did this?"

"Hm... well there are all the usual suspects. My _dear_ little brother maybe, but this seems a little too... messy for him. Also, I don't imagine him doing anything that is strictly speaking criminal. Unethical, yes, but illegal... not his style." Weiss sat back as she mused, eyes floating about the café as she spoke, her unfocused gaze betraying the amount of thought she was giving the question. "Honestly, it could be so many different people, I don't know where to start, though if they were going to come after us, I would have thought they would go for me directly."

Ruby patted her wife on the shoulder, "I don't think there's much sense in us over-thinking who it might be. More importantly, Argent, you need to keep an eye out for anyone who might be trying to do you harm, okay?"

Argent nodded, "Of course."

Ruby smiled, "Well then, I guess that all we can do for the moment. Whoever it is, I'm sure they won't just stop with the first step, we'll just have to be careful until they reveal themselves."

Weiss looked quite worriedly at her wife, "But..."

Ruby smiled at her wife, "Argent can look after herself. Don't worry so much Weiss."

Weiss frowned but nodded. "Just... be careful," she said to her daughter.

"Sure," Argent said, smiling brightly, then taking a big bite out of her cookie.

* * *

'Be careful.'

Argent smirked to herself as she deftly ducked aside from an axe blow, placing her off-hand on the ground as she crouched low, spinning her sword's canister to wind dust and unleashing a slash of wind, the razor-sharp air flying from her blade and striking against her opponent's shield, pushing her back.

'I mean I'm only fighting in a massive tournament this week, no harm is coming my way at all.'

Putting her weight on her hands, Argent threw her leg up to meet a glyph which materialised against her airborne feet, perpendicular to the ground. Drawing back her sword and removing her hand from the ground, she leaped forwards, straight at her opponent, who raised her shield and readied her axe to strike the flying heiress.

Argent struck out, lunging with her blade as she sailed towards her target. Her blade met the shield and she took a blow from the axe, sending her flying to the ground. Argent rolled with the landing, her off-hand slipping into a pocket and grasping a dust crystal. As she came to a stop facing her opponent, she held out the dust and the purple crystal glow as lightning shot from it, catching the girl in the blinding energy.

Argent stood as the crystal crumbled, its powers expended. Her opponent's hair was stood on end, and she seemed enraged, but not disabled. Argent sheathed her blade and the sword and shield transfigured into their rifle-form. She took aim as her foe charged, two glyphs empowered with force dust ringing the barrel of the gun. She squeezed the trigger, a powerful shot ringing out.

Her opponent hurled out her shield, which took the bullet for her, shield and shot flying far away from the pair. With the axe-wielder baring down on her, Argent switched her weapon to its scythe form, summoning a glyph at her feet, bright and golden, with shining gold petals swirling at her feet.

The whirling scythe was almost imperceptible as Argent's blow fell thick and fast, her opponent, now without a shield, being unable to block the oncoming attacks. She did, however, mange to land one of her own, forcing Argent back a few steps. Argent set the chamber on her weapon to ice dust and forced the blade down into the ground in front of her, ice flowing over the ground beneath her enemy.

The girl slipped slightly on the suddenly slick floor and Argent saw her chance, rushing forward, blade swinging, carving arc after arc through the air and finally, her opponent gave, falling backwards as her aura depleted and the round was Argent's.

Allowing her weapon to reform into a sheath and clip on to her belt, Argent let out a heavy breath. Glancing over at the stands, she saw her team clapping and cheering. A small smile played on her face and she turned to leave the arena.

She was into the semi-finals. Another step forward, the smile played on her face even after she had left the arena.

As she stepped out and headed towards the stands to watch the next fight, she felt her happiness melt away suddenly, a chill in the air. Looking around her, she thought she saw something in the shadows. Peering in their direction, she saw nothing. Shaking off the feeling, she wandered off, intent on finding her team-mates.

From the shadows, Onyx stepped, visibly shaking as a black dust crystal disintegrated in her hand. She breathed heavily, the air around her feeling overly humid. Swallowing hard she glared after Argent, "What the hell was that?" she muttered, before shaking herself and heading to the stands as well, making sure to take a different route from the other girl.

* * *

'Til Eternity Ends

E.D.


End file.
